The Boston Classical Guitar Society presents acclaimed classical guitar soloist David Leisner in the 2012 Festival 21 evening concert at First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley Street in Boston's Back Bay. The concert begins at 7:45 PM with the Festival 21 Guitar Orchestra conducted by Scott Borg, performing a newly commissioned work by Anthony Paul De Ritis, chair of Northeastern University's music department. Mr. Leisner's evening concert will include a world premiere performance of Carlos Carillo's Mariluna. Other works on the program include Benjamin Britten's Noctural, Op. 70, David Del Tredici's Facts of Life (commissioned by and dedicated to Mr. Leisner) and Leisner's own Labyrinths.
David Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performing artist, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher. Regarded as one of the world's leading classical guitarists, his superb musicianship and provocative programming have been applauded by critics and audiences around the world. He has been acclaimed as "a triple-threat performer" by The New York Times and a "serious, exploratory and imaginative musician" by The Boston Globe.
Mr. Leisner's career as a guitarist began auspiciously with top prizes in both the 1975 Toronto and 1981 Geneva International Guitar Competitions. In the 1980s, a disabling hand injury, focal dystonia, interrupted his performing career in mid-stream and plagued him for 12 years. Through a pioneering approach to technique based on his understanding of the physical aspects of playing the guitar, Leisner gradually rehabilitated himself. Now completely recovered, he has once again resumed an active performing career, earning accolades wherever he plays. David Leisner's recent seasons have taken him around the US, a major tour of Australia and New Zealand, and debuts and return engagements in Europe, the Far East, Canada and Mexico. An innovative three-concert series at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall included the first all-Bach guitar recital in New York’s history; Leisner is currently Artistic Director of Guitar Plus, a New York series devoted to chamber music with the guitar.
“Among the finest guitarists of all time”, according to American Record Guide, Leisner is a featured recording artist for the Azica label, with seven highly acclaimed solo recordings, including the most recent, Favorites, with works by Bach, Britten, Paganini and Ivanov-Kramskoi. Other recordings are on the Naxos, Telarc and Koch labels, with a concert DVD published by Mel Bay.
Celebrated for expanding the guitar repertoire, David Leisner has premiered and commissioned works by many important composers, including David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov, while championing the works of neglected 19th-century composers J.K. Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka. Mr. Leisner is also a highly respected composer noted for the emotional and dramatic power of his music. Fanfare magazine described it as “rich in invention and melody, emotionally direct, and beautiful”. His music has been performed worldwide by eminent guitar soloists and by orchestras around the US. A distinguished teacher as well, Leisner is currently co-chairman of the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music.
The Boston Classical Guitar Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the classical guitar through performance, education, and community building. Since its founding in 1977, the BCGS has presented leading guitarists in concerts and masterclasses while frequently supporting local competitions, ensembles, and festivals including Festival 21 and Boston GuitarFest. The BCGS regularly hosts member performance parties and facilitates interaction among Boston area professionals, students, aficionados, and audiences. Learn more about BCGS programs at http://www.bostonguitar.org.
